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Polychromy

Project leader

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Colour (polychromy) is known to have been an
inherent part of sculpture and architecture in the ancient world.
Over time, through unfavourable environmental or burial conditions
and human intervention, much of this original colouration has been
lost.

If colour survives at all it usually does so in very minute
traces, often invisible to the naked eye. As a result our
understanding of such pieces and their place in ancient cultures
has been quite fragmentary. With the help of new imaging technology
developed at the British Museum, startling evidence of previously
invisible colour has been revealed.

Current research

This new technology, together with other
analytical methods, makes it possible to undertake detailed study
of surviving polychromy traces, greatly improving our understanding
of the use of colour in antiquity.

Continuing investigations have not only benefited art-historical
interpretation, but also impact on collection care, where awareness
of (often invisible) polychromy informs conservation, display and
storage.

Imaging techniques are being actively used on the Museum
collection and are contributing to the following currect research
projects:

Images: top, Iris, a messenger goddess from
the west pediment of the Parthenon. The bright white line around
the belt in the infrared image on the right shows the existence of
Egyptian blue pigment; bottom left, Marble head from the Temple of
Artemis in Ephesus - some pink paint remains on the head, but no
blue was visible until tiny amounts were found in the eyes; middle,
video about Egyptian blue; bottom right, horse’s head from the
Palace of Sargon at Khorsabad, in northern Iraq. Much of the
harness must originally have been painted with Egyptian blue.